Crime and Youngstown

[jay]

Maggy, a south side resident, was interviewed by TV-21 yesterday.  She made some important points about the Youngstown police force.  For example, the department is understaffed.  More patrolmen will be added but not before another wave of retirements take place.  Maggy seems to know quite a lot about the shortcomings of the YPD.

[Towntalk]

No one wants a police state, but all of us will agree that for any community to survive in a safe and welcoming manner that is conducive  to growth, a strong police presence is absolutely necessary working hand in hand with a court system that protects the citizenry from those who choose to violate the law.

The rash of senseless murders in Youngstown, and make no mistake about it all murders are senseless, calls for a demand for a stronger police presence in spite of the contention that it would make for a police state by those who allegedly champion civil liberty.

Why should anyone have to hive in fear for their safety and the safety of their loved ones? Is this not a clear violation of their civil liberty?

By the same token, why should we feel sorry for criminals like some do-gooders suggest? We all make choices each and every day of our life ... no one puts a gun to our heads and forces us to make the choices we make, and if we are free to make those choices, we should be compelled to live with the consequences of those choices.

It's not enough to have compassion for the victims of wrong doers, for we are all victims in a very true sense when the criminal element preys on us.

We can hold vigils, and community marches all we want, but does that deter criminals from acting? If a person is bent on a criminal act, he's going to do it in spite of the good intentions of the community at large, because he thinks that he'll get away with it.

Public safety is neither a liberal or conservative issue it concerns the totality of the community, for criminals do not prey upon us because of our party affiliations.

All of us here know that Youngstown has a bad reputation nationally, and if we're honest with ourselves, we know that crime is at the heart of the problem, and to date nothing that the good people of the city has said or done will change that until facts and figures show the world a different Youngstown, and simply to point to some isolated cases simply won't do it.

Our city has been handed some really great opportunities for recovery, but until those opportunities are coupled with proof positive that this is a safe place for both families and businesses, we'll have gained nothing.